


Murderers and Monsters

by hogwartshoney



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Darkfic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2013-09-15
Packaged: 2017-12-26 16:54:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/968320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hogwartshoney/pseuds/hogwartshoney
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>All of the significant battles are waged within the self.</i> - Sheldon Kopp</p>
            </blockquote>





	Murderers and Monsters

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the LiveJournal community lupin_snape's Darkfic Fest 07. As such, it isn't a happy story.
> 
> Prompt: _A murderer is regarded by the conventional world as something almost monstrous, but a murderer to himself is only an ordinary man. It is only if the murderer is a good man that he can be regarded as monstrous._ – Graham Greene

===

Remus Lupin sits in the study at Grimmauld Place and tries to ignore the restless prowling within his body, tries to keep the crawling sensation under his skin, even though it is maddening, distracting, disturbing. He is vaguely aware of noises in the foyer; urgent, panicked sounds that wrench his mind back to the present, but it is the sudden, breathless, eerie silence that galvanises him into action. The scene that greets him as he stands in the doorway is a grisly one; a large heap of dirty and bloody cloth slowly separates into two, and Remus is suddenly face to face with Peter. His face is pale and covered in blood, his eyes wild with an unnamed fear, he is shaking uncontrollably even as he is pried away from the other body, and for a moment Remus is shocked, but the moment quickly passes as each second brings with it memories of happiness destroyed, of futures ruined and of families decimated, all because of this one coward, and the wolf stirs. 

Slowly Remus' eyes leave the traitor and focus on the unmoving body at their feet. 

'R-Remus.' The voice is hoarse, and for a moment he wonders who is speaking, since the body on the ground is clearly dead. 'Remus.' Again, louder, and he realises that it is Peter. He turns to meet the traitor's eyes, haunted and almost dead, and Remus struggles to understand what he is saying.

'Remus, he… they killed him. The Death Eaters.... tortured and killed him, and I had to get him out of there. He said… he had me promise to bring him back to you, and to give you this.' Remus can only understand some of the words and can barely decipher their meaning, but he is distracted by a movement, and his eyes lock on what his former friend holds in his shaking hand.

Severus' wand. 

Broken.

The massive rush of absolute cold is something that Remus has never felt before. Ice, pure, molten ice bursts through his body and entraps his heart. He strives to understand just why Peter has Severus' wand – surely the man would need his weapon? Slowly, slowly, amidst the ever-louder howling inside him, Remus finally looks down at the dark robes, extends a hand that is oddly steady despite the maelstrom inside him, and as he moves aside the blood-soaked material, he can hear the train coming. The Hogwarts Express is surely right around the corner, so loud is the whistle. 

He dimly hears mutterings around him as the familiar face swims into view, the hard set of the jaw and the pale skin, marred by dirt and blood and wounds, but in death Severus appears peaceful. The mutterings continue, louder, then shouts, and suddenly a push of humanity is upon him, suffocating him, and as they all jostle forward they strive to push him away, push him out, and he's losing sight of Severus, he's losing him… losing…

He barely hears Harry's words. 'Good. That fucking murdering bastard is finally dead; he was no good to anyone ever.' The utter cruelty that laces Harry's words and tone is powerful, and Remus shudders despite himself, despite the constant hum in his ears that only grows louder, blocking out everyone and everything.

Remus has never seen a look like that on Harry's face, twisted and fierce, and he feels as if he sees his own demons there, a physical manifestation of the turbulence inside him.

The sight of Severus' body, skin ripped and torn apart by hexes and curses, is too much, and Remus feels his sanity slipping away. He almost wishes that he still possessed the will to fight the growing darkness, but he knows that he is failing, has been failing for too long now, and he can't… can't fight this… can't fight himself. With an inhuman howl, Remus' will snaps, and the wolf finally bursts free as a haze descends over his eyes and his blood thrums through his body. Kill, KILL is his only thought and it pushes through the shreds of his consciousness until it is all that he hears, all that he thinks, all that he knows.

Moony's eyelids barely flicker as the limp body of the Boy Who Once Lived is thrown aside with a vicious twist of his head, and even as he tastes the blood in his mouth, the muscles of his jaw still spasm from the force of his bite. His entire body thrums from the absolute freedom and sheer joy of the kill. The monster barely registers who has just lost their life, but it matters not, for he has seen it through to the end. He lifts his head and howls his rage and betrayal to the hidden moon as a brilliant green light suffuses the scene.

\-----------------------------

The two gravestones lie beside each other in a distant corner of the cemetery, as though by their very placement they summarize the individuals whose bodies rest beneath the hard earth.

"Here lies Severus Snape, defender of the Light and a loyal spy."

Who could have known that Snape would show his true colours and that, despite all odds, his allegiance to Albus had been absolute. The large stone is black marble; the words etched in silver, faded now to a dull pewter colour, but nonetheless a striking and very apt reflection of the man.

Beside it lies a pearly-white headstone, smaller and roughly hewn into a circular shape with irregular edges. Only the words "R. J. Lupin" appear on it in dark lettering, almost as though the animal itself had scratched them into the stone.

Oddly, it had been Severus' wish that they be buried together, the spy and the monster.

~ fin ~


End file.
